Course quality

L_D_G

I have two course and exam proctors to choose from in my area. Both are about the same price ($2500ish). One says it covers both 901 and 902 in a 5 day span, but it is a virtual classroom. The other focuses mostly on 901 and sounds like it brushes over 902 during the same 5 day span and also has supplemental classes afterwards for 902. The advantage to this class is the instructor is there.

I have gone through Prof Messor's videos and found myself much more comfortable with 902 than 901.

Does either course sound like it'd be better? Im caught between a teacher actually there and what feels like a more concise course. I've tried YouTube courses and it's just not my learning style, so that is another reason I'm weary of the virtual classroom.

duta74

Try Testout for 7 day free:
https://testoutce.com/

IMHO, Their A/N/S+ are best

L_D_G

That does look like a great resource! It also looks pretty self paced? Just not sure that style is for me...unfortunately...because that'd be free.

yoba222

$2500 for training to obtain an A+, aka $2500 for a crash diet to get an A+ cert.

In a 5 day course you're really just dumping nearly all that training to short term memory. You're going to retain only a fraction of what you're shown after just 3 or 4 weeks. This sets you up in a really bad way if and when you move on to something like Network+, for example.

As you become more advanced in your career, you'll find that sometimes there might not be a course offered to teach you something you want or need to learn and you'll have to use your own discipline and learning skills to figure it out. Better to start improving the learning-how-to-learn skills now rather than later in my opinion.

Here's a great (free when I did it) course on learning how to learn:
https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

davec8080

Listen, I have tested (both exams) for A+ twice. The first time around, it was one book ($25 I think, at the time) self-paced book study. No video, no virtual, no classroom, no practice tests. Did I mention I ACED it? Both exams, back to back, finished in about 40 minutes (two exams) When I went back up to the counter, the administrator thought there was something wrong with my computer. Then, I informed her I was done. She was shocked when she saw my scores.

I will say the latest round of 901/902 is a bit harder, because it covers a lot more material. They mix in a bunch of stuff from Network+ and Security+ now. That, and they expect you to be a laser printer engineer* now. Plus, my life is hectic to the point where if I have 15 UNINTERRUPTED minutes to study in a single day, it's a good day. So if you work for a living, I would advise you to test 901 first, then study for 902...

But there is soooo......much good study material out there now. Some of it is free, or next to free. You'd have to be a bit insane to spend $2500 on an A+ course. Consider...

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Out of six CompTIA exams I have sat for, I passed them all (usually with a really high score) on my first try. My PRIMARY study material for all of them was a book written by Mike Meyers, usually the "All-In-One" book. The latest version is about 24 bucks on Amazon right now. That includes a practice test on CD.

The best practice tests for the latest of the common CompTIA exams are Android Apps by Darril Gibson. From memory, they are about 8 bucks a piece (901 or 902), $16 total for A+ practice tests. These are the best practice tests available!!!

On Udemy right now (for the next couple of hours), the following courses are listed for 10 bucks each. Note that these courses and similar are often on sale on Udemy for $10-$20 each.
CompTIA A+ Certification 901. The Total Course
CompTIA A+ Certification 902. The Total Course
CompTIA A+ Certification 220-901: Practice Tests
CompTIA A+ Certification 220-902: Practice Tests
Those courses are all excellent, speaking from experience.

On Youtube, you can Search for Professor Messer A+ playlists. I don't like him as much as Meyers. HOWEVER, he will give you the same information, and enough to pass the exams. And the price is FREE.
Professor Messer also sells course notes for $30 (for the set of 2, covers A+901/902). These are excellent for last-minute cramming of the stuff you have to memorize.

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All the stuff I listed above is WAY more than you need to pass A+, if you use it right. You should be able to do just fine with the all-in-one book and the Darril Gibson practice tests Android Apps. $40 total.

But if you want more material to study, you could (in theory) buy everything on the list for a whopping $110. I would not suggest you spend that much on study material for A+. But what you NEED to understand is...

If you spend $2500 on an A+ course, you are not going to gain anything by spending that extra ~$2400 which you do NOT need to spend.

If the Meyers book plus the Darril Gibson APPS are not enough to get you past the A+ successfully...

Then frankly speaking, the only thing holding you back is your study habits....

$2500? DON'T DO IT

* One annoying thing about 901/902 is that they really hit laser printer maintenance/repair HARD. The average field service tech with 10 years of experience will not know NEARLY enough about laser printers to pass the A+ exam now. I'm not sure what CompTIA's thinking is on this. They seem to be suggesting that you should be a true laser printer engineer (not just a service tech) in order to be A+ certified. The level of detail on the exam is ludicrous! IMHO.

pirlo21

I'd say if you got enough money to pay $2500 for that, don't do it. Get Kaplan Transcender IT training, that helped me a lot passing both exams with decent scores. Their questions are very similar to what the test is about on both 901 and 902. And it's much less money spent, 5 days for $2500 not worth it since you will probably retain very few of all the info they will give to you.